There are numerous animal collars available which include radio transmitters that are used to track and locate various types of animals, particularly hunting dogs. Such collars conventionally utilize crystal controlled, single frequency transmitters. Federal regulation limits the frequency band reserved for the tracking of and telemetry of scientific data from animal wildlife to 216-220 MHZ. Accordingly, there are a limited number of channels available for conventional, single frequency transmitters. This can lead to problems when one confronts a situation in which two or more animals are tagged with transmitters that transmit over the same frequency or channel, or when one or more animals are tagged with transmitters that transmit over interfering frequencies or channels. In such cases, it can be difficult or impossible at times to accurately track more than one animal.
The present invention is directed to a programmable animal collar which allows for field selection of transmission frequencies or channels.